How I Plan on Disrupting the Auto Industry...in Red Heels
[Music]
i’m a beast at pillow parking i’ll just
let you know i live in philadelphia
my name is patrice banks and i’m going
to start by sharing a personal story
so six years ago i was an engineer
working for dupont
and it was one of those warm summer days
kind of like today where you can’t wait
to get outside to enjoy the weather
i was really unfocused at work thinking
about what i’m going to do on my lunch
break
so i logged onto facebook was browsing
around to pass the time
and i just posted this status
my car needs an oil change but i’m going
to get a mani pedi instead
now i like to be silly on social media
and i thought this manicure pedicure
status was going to get
some attention and probably some pretty
funny comments
i didn’t actually see the comments until
i got back from the nail salon later
that afternoon
where the guys were saying this is why
women shouldn’t drive and you’re going
to be stuck on the side of the road with
a blown engine
of course my ladies came to the rescue
by saying alicia look cute on the side
of the road while she’s waiting for a
guy to help her
or thumbing it for a ride my 28 year old
self
thought that this was funny my 30 year
old self thought
this was genius at 30 i called myself
an auto airhead because i was i
struggled to lift the hood of my car
i was turn the key and go
and because of this i did minimum
service on my car
i waited until the last minute to do
repairs
i would panic anytime something would go
wrong
i felt taken advantage of by mechanics
and i would rather get my nails done
than protect a
25 000 asset and it’s no
secret that this is the state of many
women in their cars today
auto airheads just like me but
it reflects on how we feel about the
automotive industry
up to 77 percent of women feel
misunderstood
by automakers and taken advantage of by
mechanics
and we are we’re guarded with our car
buying and repair decisions
right we think is this real
do i really need this does it cost this
much money
or am i being taken advantage of and we
think
do i have a husband or a brother or a
father
to help me so i’m not taken advantage of
but listen men don’t know a lot of this
stuff either the other day i was coming
out of the gym and i saw two guys trying
to jump start a car
and they were doing it wrong i so badly
wanted to go up to them and say hey guys
can i help you but i understand how
fragile the male ego is so i quietly
pass them by but the realization for
women in their cars today is this
we’re overwhelmed with simple
maintenance tasks we feel taken
advantage of
by mechanics and we often make poor
buying decisions with our cars i started
searching for a female mechanic
to help me and to share and surprisingly
my search came up
empty i don’t need statistics to tell me
what i already knew
i needed an education and so do millions
of women
out there i couldn’t find a female
mechanic
so i became one and i went back to
school for automotive technology
and started creating a vision for a
company that educates
and empowers women through their cars
and who better to teach you than an auto
air head turned auto attack
and guess what ladies we are the number
one customer
in the automotive industry women buy
more than
half of all new cars in the united
states and we
influence up to 80 percent of car
purchases
also did you know that 67 percent of
auto service and maintenance work is
requested
by women so we buy more cars than men
we take our cars in for repairs more
than men and for the first time in
history a study shows
that women hold more driver’s licenses
than men across
all age groups so that means there are
more women drivers than men
does that scare you guys more women
drivers
on the road well it’s here women spend
200 billion dollars a year
on buying and repairing their cars so
why do we have this huge disconnect
between women in the automotive industry
i believe it’s because there are
virtually no women that work in this
industry
less than two percent of mechanics or
technicians are women
and less than seven percent of auto
dealership service advisors
sales people and managers combined our
women
even though we prefer a female mechanic
or a female
car salesman so my question is this
why do we have so many women drivers and
so
few female mechanics and car sales
women well in my three-year journey so
far in the automotive industry
i have found that almost every single
woman will face discrimination
because of her sex big surprise right
but it’s blatant and i want to give you
an example of a recent experience of
mine
i was hired to go to a technical high
school to speak to an automotive class
about what it means to be a woman in the
automotive industry
the class was all boys about 40 students
and they didn’t believe that i was a
mechanic
they challenged me with questions to
test my car knowledge
they asked to see my hands they told me
i was a distraction
imagine a 15 year old girl who enjoys
cars
loves cars wants to work on them enter
into this field
five years from now she’s going to be
looking for a job from one of these guys
needless to say they got an earful from
me that day
but my point is there’s very little
support for women in the automotive
industry
for career growth and development
especially in car buying and repair
women get discouraged and frustrated
we’re often the first ones to be laid
off
or we drop out and go into an entirely
different profession
and because of that the industry does
not reflect
its number one customer it is heavily
dominated by men
who may or may not be trying to
understand the emotional need
that drives a woman to buy a car or
approve a repair service
the bottom line is this women feel
mistreated and misunderstood by this
industry
because there are so few women who work
in it and it is important that women are
included
in the entire automotive process from
concept
design and manufacturing to sales and
repair
women should be empowered to enter this
industry and given tools and support
for career growth and development so
two years after i could not find a
female mechanic
i created girls auto clinic and girls
auto clinic offers
automotive buying and repair services
based on trust
education inclusion and empowerment
it is my mission to disrupt the
automotive industry by catering to
my number one customer women and i want
to make
history with girls auto clinic not just
by creating a community of car savvy
women
but by creating opportunities for women
to sit at the table
in this industry across all levels
whether they want to be technicians
salespeople managers engineers
or ceos like mary barra of gm
so now today at 34 i want to reach every
woman driver in the united states
each woman who operates a car should
have
a good education of how her car works
and how to maintain it
a mechanic that she trusts and she
should feel confident about her car
buying choices
i want women to own their cars and
owning it means
knowing it girls auto clinic empowers
women to know their cars
no longer fear the mechanic or panic
when something goes wrong
i educate women by hosting free car care
workshops
where you’ll learn how to take care of
your car how to talk to a mechanic
and what to do in emergency the
workshops are designed to be interactive
and fun and women leave feeling
confident to handle
any issues with their car that may arise
if you can’t attend a workshop or for
car tips on the go i’ve also written a
book
for women called the girls auto clinic
glove box guide
it fits in your glove box and you’ll
reference it for things like dashboard
lights what do they mean
should i panic can i ignore it or
how often am i supposed to change my oil
it’s no longer
three thousand miles or every three
months and my personal favorite
do i really need that air filter the
mechanic tells me i need
every time i go in for an oil change the
glovebox guide includes tires
belts fluids and a lot of great
information
there’s pictures tips it’s going to help
you save money
and stay safe on the road and then i
also blog car tips on my website that
women get a kick out of because they’re
relatable
it’s everyday language and no over your
head
technical talk so for example one title
is does your car have boogies
where we talk about air filters another
if you think of your engine and this is
a this is a fan favorite
think of your engine like a vagina can
anyone tell me
the main purpose of engine oil
spit it out anyone know lubricate yes
so you don’t need to understand the
four-stroke engine but you do need to
know that your engine needs oil
your engine has fast-moving parts
rubbing up and down working hard to make
your car
go what happens when you have fast
moving parts rubbing up and down with no
lubrication
you ever notice when you need an oil
change your car runs
a little rough and then as soon as you
get one it’s running a lot smoother
almost singing or purring the single
most important thing
that you can do for your car is to get
your oil changed when it’s due
no low lube no dirty loop
i also know that women feel
misunderstood
mistreated disrespected when they’re
buying cars
so i assist and consult women with new
and used car buying
i want us all to feel and good and make
more confident
decisions when it comes to buying a car
so we know we have
a safe reliable car for a fair price
and the result of this education is that
women are empowered to learn more
and they feel good about their cars so
up next
i will be opening the first girls auto
clinic full
auto service repair shop in philadelphia
girls auto clinic repair will cater to
women
we will be hiring female mechanics
technicians and service advisors
there will be a beautiful clean and
welcoming lounge
tailored to women but the best part
about girls auto clinic repair
there will be a nail salon there so you
get your nails done while you’re waiting
for your car
thank you girls auto clinic
is a destination place where women can
come feel confident about themselves
their cars and their buying choices
they trust their auto service shop but
more importantly they trust
themselves to make the right decision
when it comes to their cars
i believe in girls auto clinic never has
there been a greater time to be a woman
in america than right now we are
becoming empowered
to take charge of things that we once
feared and avoided
and i know that we can rise to the
occasion when taking over our cars
and the automotive industry and i’m
ready for it
are you ready shecanics let’s do it
thank you and i hope to see you all at
my grand opening thank you